Meaning
Nose. Used for the organ of smell and related ideas like scent and congestion.
- 鼻 — nose
- 鼻血 — nosebleed
- 鼻水 — runny nose
- 鼻声 — nasal voice
- 自慢鼻が高い — to be proud (idiom)
- 鼻孔 — nostril
- 嗅覚 — sense of smell
The top part 自 originally depicted a nose; combined with a phonetic element below, it forms 鼻, the character for “nose.” It appears in medical and everyday words involving smell, congestion, and breathing.
花粉症で 鼻水が 止まりません。
I have hay fever and my nose won’t stop running.
この香水は 鼻にやさしい 香りです。
This perfume has a gentle scent on the nose.
On-yomi is ビ in compounds like 鼻孔 and 鼻声. Kun-yomi はな is the everyday word “nose.”